Gun sight



QR 219O4a888 C. M. NIESP Sept. 22, 1959 GUN H SIGHT 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 17, 1957 U/ Q W INVENTOR GAS/MEI? M. NIESP ATTORNEYS l C. M NIESP GUN SIGHT Sept. 22, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 17, 1957 INVENTOR CAS/MER M. N/ES P ATTORNEY United States Patent GUN SIGHT Casimer M. Niesp, Buffalo, NY.

Application December 17, 1957, Serial No. 703,336

7 Claims. (Cl. 33-51) The present invention relates to gun sights, more particularly, to a multi-way seasonal gun sight for use against both moving and stationary targets and against the different outdoor backgrounds which occur with the seasons of the year.

While numerous forms of gun sights have been proposed in the past, little attention has been given to providing a compact multi-way sight which can be used both against moving and stationary targets and against different colored backgrounds which occur during different seasons of the year. Consequently, it is necessary for the sportsman to equip himself with a variety of sights dependent upon the conditions which he expects to encounter in the field. Should conditions suddenly vary, however, the sportsman may well find himself unprepared to cope with this change in conditions if he is carrying a single sight. Furthermore, it is expensive and inconvenient to the sportsman to provide himself with a plurality of sights which can be used under different conditions. Thus there has long been a need for a simple inexpensive sight for shotguns and the like which can be used against both moving and stationary targets and under varying conditions which may be found in the field.

It is the principal object of this invention to provide a novel and an improved gun sight for rifles, shotguns, machine guns and any other type of shoulder weapons.

It is another object of this invention to disclose a gun sight which will provide a contrasting structure regardless of the background against which the gun is being used.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a gun sight for use against moving targets approaching from either direction or going away or coming towards the firer and stationary targets at close or distant ranges.

It is an additional object of this invention to provide a multi-way gun sight which may be readily used against different colored backgrounds.

It is still another object of this invention to provide a front sight for shotguns and the like which may be quickly adjusted for use against different color backgrounds together with means for positioning the sight after adjustment to insure that the plane of the sight is at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the barrel of the gun.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent upon reference to the accompanying description when taken in conjunction with the following drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is an over-all perspective view of adoublebarrel shotgun equipped with the front sight of this in vention;

Figure 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the front end of a single-barrel shotgun showing the manner in which the front sight of this invention is attached thereo;

Figure 3 is an over-all perspective view in enlarged scale of the front gun sight of this invention showing one face of the sight with a light color for use against dark backgrounds;

Figure 4 is a rear elevational view of the front gun Patented Sept. 22, 1959 sight illustrated in Figure 3 showing the other face of the gun sight as having a dark color in contrast to the one face of the sight shown in Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a sectional view taken along a vertical plane of the front sight when it is mounted in position on the barrel of the gun, showing the manner in which a lock washer is used to position the sight;

Figure 6 is an over-all perspective view of the lock washer used in positioning the front sight and showing the groove on the bottom of the washer for retaining the lock washer against rotation;

Figure 7 is an over-all perspective view of the rear sight used in the sighting arrangement illustrated in Figure 1;

Figure 8 is a front elevational view of the rear sight illustrated in Figure 7;

Figure 9 is an over-all perspective view in enlarged scale of a modification of the front gun sight of this invention wherein beads in the various peep sights are omitted;

Figure 10 is a rear elevational view of the modified gun sight shown in Figure 9 looking at the other face thereof and showing this face as having a darker color in contrast with the face of the gun sight shown in Figure 9: and

Figure 11 is a perspective view of the front end of twin machine guns equipped with the front sight in this invention.

This invention essentially comprises a relatively flat body member having a plurality of peep sights with or without beads therein for use at targets moving from different directions and at stationary targets. One face of the sight is painted a light color and the other face a dark color. The sight is secured to the front end of a gun barrel by threaded shaft which is screwed into the threaded bore found on the barrel of a gun for mounting of the sight. A lock washer is positioned about the shaft so as to retain the front sight against rotation. The lock washer is secured against rotation and has means thereon to accurately position the gun sight when either face is presented to the firer.

A detailed illustration of this invention is presented in the drawings of this invention, wherein like reference symbols indicate the same parts throughout the various views. Referring particularly to Figure 1, there is illustrated a double-barrel shotgun 1 having a stock 2 and barrels 3 on the front end of which is mounted a front sight 4 and on the rear end of which is mounted a rear sight 5.

The front sight 4 comprises a relatively fiat body member 6 to which are attached three circular or loop peep sights 7, 8 and 9 which are arranged in a triangle. The sights 7 and 8 are in a straight line and are positioned on either side of the vertical center line of the front sight. The sights 7 and 8 are substantially horizontal when the gun is in the normal firing position. The peep sight 9 is positioned on the vertical center line of the front sight and is mounted above the lateral sights 7 and 8.

Beads 10, 11 and 12 are mounted in the center of the peep sights 7, 8 and 9, respectively. The beads are mounted upon bead supports 13, 14 and 15, respectively, which extend radially to the periphery of the loop sights, to which point they are attached. While the bead supports in the slight illustrated in Figure 3 are shown attached to the bottom of the peripheries of the bead sights, it should be borne in mind that the bead supports may be attached at any point of the loop sight, and furthermore, the beads themselves may be positioned within the loop sights in any suitable manner.

There is an opening 16 between the lateral peep sights 7 and 8 which extends from a point spaced below the peep sight 9 to the bottom of the body member 6 indi- 3 cated at 17. As may be clearly shown in Figure 4, the bottom of the body member extends in a straight line beneath the loop sights 7 and 8.

At approximately the mid-point of the opening 10 there is mounted a horizontal bead support 18 upon which is positioned a bead 19. At the bottom of the elongated opening 10 there is a second bead 20. Beads 19 and 20 form sights for stationary targets located at far and near ranges, respectively.

A threaded shaft 21 extends downwardly from the bottom 17 of the body along the vertical center line of the front sight. In effect, the bead 20 is mounted on the top of the threaded shaft 21. The shaft 21 is screwed into a threaded bore which is conventionally provided on the front end of the barrel of guns for the mounting of the front sight.

One face of the front sight as indicated at 22 is coated with a light color such as white, pearl white or the like. The opposing face 23 as may be seen in Figure 4 is colored with a dark color such as black, brown or dark navy blue.

A lock washer 24 is used to secure the front sight to the gun barrel and to retain the same against rotation in the manner illustrated in Figure 1.

The lock washer 24 is illustrated in greater detail in Figure 6 where it can be seen that the lower surface of the lock washer is provided with a radially extending groove 25 and the upper surface thereof is provided with protrusions or pimples 26 and 27. The groove 25 cooperates with a ridge 28 located on the upper surface of the barrel of the gun. When the front sight is as sembled on the gun, the groove and ridge are placed in cooperating relationship so as to prevent the lock washer from rotating when the front sight is pivoted to present a selected face to the firer. To obtain accurate results in shooting, it is necessary that the plane of the body of the front sight be at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the barrel of the gun. To insure this relationship of the sight to the barrel of the gun, a slight recess or depression 29 is provided on the bottom of the front sight. The depression 29 cooperates with pimples 26 and 27 on the bottom of the front sight, which pimples are positioned 180 from each other. The ridge 28 on the barrel of the gun is so positioned that when the groove 25 of the lock washer is engaged with the ridge and the pimple engages one of the recesses on the front sight, the front sight will be aligned in a plane which is perpendicular with the longitudinal axis of the barrel of the gun. When it is desired to present the other face of the front sight to the firer, the front sight is merely rotated 180 until the other recess clicks into cooperation with the pimple. Since the pimple is of a very small height with respect to the height of the ridge 28, it can be seen that the lock washer will remain stationary while the front sight is rotated but that the front sight will read ily disengage itself from the pimple when rotated.

Proceeding next to Figures 7 and 8, there is illustrated the rear sight which comprises a cylindrical tubular member 30. There are cross hairs 31 within the cylindrical member. The rear of this cylindrical member is beveled as shown in 32. There is a radially extending threaded shaft 33 on the outer wall of the rear sight for threading into a threaded bore located at the rear end of the barrel for receiving the rear sight. A lock Washer 34 is also used to secure the rear sight to the barrel.

Proceeding next to Figures 9 and 10, there is illustrated a multi-way sight which is a modification of the sight shown in Figures 3 and 4. This modified sight differs in that the beads are eliminated from the loop sights and from the stationary sight. In addition, only a single stationary sight is provided so that the modified sight is a four-way sight as compared with the five-way sight previously described.

The modified sight illustrated at 35 comprises an elongated opening 36 whose upper end is spaced from the 4 upper loop sight 9 and whose lower end is spaced above the bottom 17 of the body of the sight.

This modified sight is primarily for use for more advanced hunters and sportsmen who do not find it necessary to use beads in aligning a target with the center of the circular peep sights. In all other respects, the modified sight is similar in structure and operation to the sight as illustrated in Figures 3 and 4.

With the above structure of the invention in mind, the use of this gun sight in actual operation with both moving and stationary targets will next be described. The front sight of this invention is primarily designed for moving targets, but at the same time it is so designed that it may also be used for stationary targets at varying distances. With respect to the sight as illustrated in Figures 3 and 4, when the firer has placed the gun in position, the front sight will appear to him as illustrated in Figure 4. For a target such as a flying bird moving from the left of the firer, the firer will line up the cross hairs of the rear sight with the center of the peep sight 8 and the head of the bird. The resulting line of sight will be sufliciently in advance of the bird so as to properly lead the bird and to insure a hit.

With a target approaching from the right, the firer will sight through the center of the peep sight 7. The peep sight 9 is used for targets which are over the head of the firer and going away from him.

The above-described use of the gun sight is intended primarily for single-barrel weapons wherein the line of sight and the path taken by the bullet will have a fixed relationship with respect to each other. When using the sight with a double-barrel weapon such as illustrated in Figure l, greater accuracy is possible by resorting to what is known as criss-cross firing. Assuming the same situation where the firer is looking through the sight as illustrated in Figure 4 and a moving target approaches from the left of the firer, the firer will line up the cross hairs in the rear sight 5 with the bead 11 and the front of the target. The firer then fires the right-hand barrel. The firer will thus lead the target a greater distance since the right-hand barrel is positioned to the right of the center line of the gun sight and hence the amount of lead will be increased by the distance of the right-hand barrel from the center line of the target.

The converse is true when the target is approaching from the right. The firer will sight through the loop 7 using the bead 10 and will fire the left-hand barrel when the target is in the sight. The additional lead possible through this criss-cross firing will result in greater accuracy when the target is moving at a faster speed.

The opening 16 which forms a stationary sight is used for stationary targets with the bead 20 being used for targets which are near the firer and the bead 19 being used for targets which are further away. The range at which the firer will switch from one bead to the other will depend upon the type of Weapon used, i.e., whether the sight is mounted on a high powered rifle or on a shotgun.

Should the firer wish to present a different colored sight surface toward him, he merely rotates the front sight one-half of a revolution until the recess on the bottom of the sight clicks with the pimple on the washer. Since this rotation may be an unscrewing of the threaded shaft, the lock washer will prevent the loosening of the front sight. As a specific example, the light colored face of the gun sight is directed towards the rear of the gun or in the direction of the firer when the gun is being used against a green background which is prevalent in the summer and spring and the brown of the background of the fall season. The black face is directed towards the firer when a gun is used against a snowy winter background.

It is pointed out that the sight as illustrated in Figure 4 is drawn to the full size and shape that the sight would have when assembled on either a 10- or IZ-gauge shotgun.

It has been found that a front sight embodying the dimensional relationships as illustrated in the gun sight of Figure 4 will give the most accurate results. As an example of some of the dimensions of this particular gun sight, attention should be given to the following: the width of the rim of the peep sight is A; of an inch, the width of the bead support is bi of an inch, the diameter of the bead in the loop sights is /8 of an inch, the width of the elongated opening is of an inch, the diameter of the threaded shaft is A of an inch, and the diameter of each of the beads 19 and 20 of the stationary targets is of an inch.

If it is desired to use the front sight for smaller shotguns, say 16 and ZO-gauge, then the entire dimensional proportions of the front sight are changed with respect to the diameter of the barrels.

Use of the front sight with shotguns of 28- or 410- gauge results in a correspondingly further decrease in the size of the front sight.

By establishing these various relationships of the elements of the front sight with respect to 10- and IZ-gauge shotguns, a front sight has been provided which when afiixed to shotguns of any gauge will bear the proper relationship to the gauge of the gun for accurate shooting.

Thus, it can be seen that this invention provides a multi-way sight which can be used against a variety of backgrounds. As a result, the sportsman finds it unnecessary to have many complicated sights for use against both moving targets and against various colored backgrounds. The sight of this invention is simple in construction and is extremely simple to operate.

This sight is not limited to uses for the sportsman but may be used in military applications. For instance, the sight may be used for machine guns, automatic rifles or any other shoulder weapons. Reference is made to Figure 11 where an example of a military application is shown. In this application the front sight 4 of the invention is mounted on the front end of a double-barrel machine gun 37. The sight may also be used on weapons designed for anti-aircraft use.

For accurate results when using the sight against moving targets in military operations, the sight should be mounted on double-barrel weapons such as illustrated in Figure 11. Again by the use of criss-cross firing, the firer will be able to lead the target a greater distance than previously possible.

For use against targets moving at an extremely high speed, such as aircraft manned or unmanned, the amount of lead can be increased by further spacing the barrels away from the center line of the target. Therefore, when using the criss-cross firing technique, the lead will be increased by the amount that the barrel is displaced from the center line of the gun sight.

Thus the technique of criss-cross firing, together with the multi-way gun sight disclosed as this invention, will result in extremely accurate shooting against moving targets regardless of the speed of the target.

The gun sight of this invention is a simple and inexpensive sight which can be used against moving targets which are moving from any one of a number of directions and which, by a half of a revolution, may be adapted for use against various outdoor backgrounds.

It will be understood that this invention is susceptible to modification in order to adapt it to different usages and conditions and, accordingly, it is desired to comprehend such modifications within this invention as may fall within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A multi-way gun sight for both moving and stationary targets comprising three circular loops formed in a triangle with two of said loops forming a straight line and positioned on either side of the vertical central line of said sight, the third loop being positioned between and said two loops beneath said third loop, upper and lower beads positioned within said opening to form sights for near and distant stationary targets, a threaded shaft on said, sightfortsecuring the same tothe barrel of the gun'IQand a light surface onone side of said sight and a dark surface on the other side of said sight whereby the sight will provide a contrast with the background against which it is being used.

2. A multi-way gun sight for moving and stationary targets comprising three circular loops arranged in a triangle, two of said loops forming a straight line and positioned on either side of the vertical central line of said sight, the third loop being positioned between and above said first two loops, a bead mounted in the center of each of said loops, there being an opening between said two loops and below said third loop, an upper and a lower bead mounted in said opening to form sights for near and distant stationary targets, a threaded shaft on said sight for securing the same to the barrel of a gun, and a light surface on one side of said sight and a dark surface on the other side of said sight whereby the sight will provide a contrast with the background against which it is being used.

3. In a multi-way gun sight for both moving and stationary targets, the combination of three circular loops arranged in a triangle with two of said loops forming a straight line and positioned on either side of the vertical central line of said sight, said third loop positioned between and above said first loop, there being an opening between said two loops and below said third loop, means within said opening forming at least one sight for stationary targets, the bottom of said sight forming a straight line, a light surface on one side of said sight and a dark surface on the other side of said sight whereby the sight will provide a contrast with the background against which it is being used, a pair of recesses on the bottom of said sight, a threaded shaft extending from the bottom of said sight along the vertical central line thereof for securing the same to the barrel of a gun, a lock washer surrounding said threaded shaft, there being means for securing said lock washer to said barrel against rotary movement, a boss on the upper surface of said lock washer for cooperation with the recesses on the bottom of said gun sight and so positioned with respect to said recesses that when said boss is received in one of said recesses, the sight is in a plane at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the barrel of the gun regardless of what side of the sight is presented to the firer.

4. A multi-way gun sight for both moving and stationary targets comprising three circular loops formed in a triangle with two of said loops forming a straight line and positioned on either side of the vertical central line of said sight, the third loop being positioned between and above said first two loops, there being an opening between said two loops beneath said third loop, and upper and lower beads positioned within said opening to form sights for near and distant stationary targets.

5. A multi-way gun sight for both moving and stationary targets comprising three circular loops formed in a triangle with two of said loops forming a straight line and positioned on either side of the vertical central line of said sight, the third loop being positioned between and above said first two loops, there being an opening between said two loops beneath said third loop, upper and lower beads positioned within said opening to form sights for near and distant stationary targets, and means on said sight for securing said sight to the barrel of a gun.

6. A multi-way gun sight for both moving and stationary targets comprising three circular loops formed in a triangle with two of said loops forming a straight line and positioned on either side of the vertical central line of said sight, the third loop being positioned be-- tween and above said first two loops, there being an above said first two loops, there being an opening between 7 opening between said two loops beneath said third loop,

upper and lower beads positioned within said opening to form sights for near and distant stationary targets, and means for locking said gun sight in position on said barrel.

7. A multi-way gun sight for both moving and stationary targets comprising three circular loops formed in a triangle with two of said loops forming a straight line and positioned on either side of the vertical central line of said sight, the third loop being positioned between and above said first two loops, there being an opening between said two loops beneath said third loop, upper and lower beads positioned within said opening to form sights for near and distant stationary targets, and means for locking said gun sight in position on said barrel, said last-mentioned rneans including means for positioning said sight at right angles to the longitudinal aXis of the barrel.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,421,553 Pohl July 4, 1922 1,964,027 Bliss June 26, 1934 2,458,638 Pretzer Jan. 11, 1949 2,586,807 Fowler Feb. 26, 1952 2,727,309 Jenkins Dec. 20, 1955 2,730,806 Williams et a1. Jan. 17, 1956 

